30 abril, 2012

No Times de hoje #138

Anunciado no Times de ontem e cumprido hoje: o número 1 do World trade center (que dá pelo nome de Liberty tower) é já o prédio mais alto de Nova Iorque.

28 abril, 2012

Primavera #19


descubra as semelhanças


Espantos #324

Warning signs (in English and Spanish!) at the post office door read:

"Armed robbery of a postal employee or postal facility carries a prison sentence up to 25 years upon conviction."
_____________

Avisos (em Inglês e Espanhol!) na porta dos correios:

"Assaltos à mão armada de funcionários ou estações dos correios, incorrem numa sentença de 25 anos de prisão após condenação." 

27 abril, 2012

Foi neste dia #172 (1521)

Fernão Magalhães morreu nas Filipinas há 491 anos em Mactan, numa batalha "encomendada". Não se tratou de batalha ao serviço do rei espanhol, que Magalhães servia, mas antes da garantia de uma aliança com um soberano local (Rajá Humabon de Cebu) sob condição de enfrentar um inimigo deste (Datu Lapu-Lapu)... como tantas vezes aconteceu com os Europeus na Ásia. 

Magellan ou Magallanes, o português que na história ficou marcado pelo avanço científico da primeira viagem de circum-navegação terrestre, morreu ingloriamente num conflito local e acessório.

25 abril, 2012

Coisas que não mudam #185

No matter what, dogs love you and enjoy your company.

23 abril, 2012

22 abril, 2012

Parece que estou a ouvir #132



I wonder where you are tonightBill Monroe
Tonight I'm sad, my heart is wearyWondrin' if I'm wrong or rightTo dream about you though you left meI wonder where you are tonight
The rain is cold and slowly fallin'Upon my window pane tonightAnd tho' your love was even colderI wonder where you are tonight
Your heart was cold, you never loved meAlthough you often said you caredAnd now you've gone and found anotherSomeone who knows the love I shared
The rain is cold and slowly fallin'Upon my window pane tonightAnd tho' your love was even colderI wonder where you are tonight
Then came the dawn the day you left meI tried to smile with all my mightBut you could see the pain within meThat lingers in my heart tonight
The rain is cold and slowly fallin'Upon my window pane tonightAnd tho' your love was even colderI wonder where you are tonight
______________

There's a funny contrast in Bluegrass. The sound and rhythm are usually happy and upbeat, but most of the lyrics are pitiful and sad. This song is a full-fledged example.

Earth Day

Blooming google doodle today

21 abril, 2012

Death penalty


Connecticut recently repealed capital punishment, the fifth state doing so in the past five years. So far, seventeen of the fifty states have eliminated the death penalty. In most states that have it, the number of inmates on death row is larger than the number of executions since 1976, given the various levels of appeal and the non-negligible chance of executing innocents. Exceptions are Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia and, unsurprisingly, Texas.

20 abril, 2012

Foi neste dia #171 (1912)

Fenway park opened 100 years ago. Boston, you know we love you madly...

Palavras lidas #188

The situation of the Company servants in Japan or China was in sharp contrast with that in India. In Japan the Dutch were isolated on the island of Deshima, in the harbour of Nagasaki, that they were not allowed to leave apart from the annual courtesy visit to Edo, which was made by the chief officer and his following. For the rest they were dependent on the small circle of interpreters. Japanese were not allowed to stay in Deshima either, although there was one exception to this, namely for ladies of pleasure, who the servants could 'order' via the interpreters. Sometimes long-lasting relationships grew up with Japanese women, but children from such a relationship were not allowed to leave Japan and had to remain with their mother.

p. 78

Parece que estou a ouvir #131

Keep on Trying
Poco

I've been thinkin' bout all the times you told me,
You're so full of doubt you just can't let it be but I know,
If you keep on comin' back for more and I keep on tryin',
I keep on tryin' and
I've been drinkin' now just a little too much,
And I don't know how I can get in touch with you,
Now there's only one thing for me to do is to keep on tryin'
To get home to you,
And I feel so satisfied when I can see you smile I,
I want to confide in all that is true so I,

Keep on trying I'm thru with lying,
Just like the sun above I keep on shinning thru, oh yes I'll,
Keep on trying I'm tired of crying,
I've got to find a way to get home to you,

I've been thinkin' bout all the times you held me
I never heard you shout the flow of energy was so fine
Now I think I'll lay it on the line and keep on tryin'
To get home to you,
And I feel so satisfied when I can see you smile I,
I want to confide in all that is true so I

Keep on trying I'm thru with lying
Just like the sun above I'll come shinning thru, yes I will,
Keep on trying I'm tired of crying
I've got to find a way to get home to you

Espantos #323

Enquanto o CR-v está a arranjar, o carro de substituição é

um jipe

liberty.

Qual tanque de guerra quadrado, mas serve!

19 abril, 2012

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) 2012


Started yesterday (April 18th) evening and ends this evening (April 19th). This year, the Yom HaShoah coincides with the start of the 18-day Warsaw Ghetto uprising on April 19th 1943. In the press.

Foi neste dia #170 (1987)

Há 25 anos, os Simpsons apareceram na tv pela primeira vez.

18 abril, 2012

Parece que estou a ouvir #130

The Turtles

You got a thing about you
I just can't live without you
I really want you Elenore near me
Your looks intoxicate me
Even though your folks hate me
There's no one like you Elenore really

Elenore gee I think you're swell
And you really do me well
You're my pride and joy et cetera
Elenore can I take the time
To ask you to speak your mind
Tell me that you love me better

I really think you're groovy
Let's go out to a movie
What do ya say now, Elenore can we?
They'll turn the lights way down low
Maybe we won't watch the show
I think I love you, Elenore, love me

Elenore, gee I think you're swell
And you really do me well
You're my pride and joy, et cetera
Elenore, can I take the time
To ask you to speak your mind?
Tell me that you love me better

Elenore, gee I think you're swell, ah-hah
Elenore, gee I think you're swell, ah-hah-hah

17 abril, 2012

Coisas que não mudam #183

Granizo do tamanho de bolas de golf faz estragos. No meu carro o arranjo foi avaliado em $3,100 cobertos pelo seguro, com uma franquia de $500. Certas mossas são bem grandes e o avaliador do seguro não está certo de que a reparação se possa fazer sem estragar a tinta... no caso de ser necessária pintura o custo será bem maior. Deixarei o carro na marca para reparar brevemente. Entretanto, já por duas vezes, me deixaram cartões ou postais no pára-brisas:

prometem reparação perfeita sem pintura e nem franquia.

Tudo depende da vontade de desembolsar $500 para ter o serviço da marca, ou do grau de aversão ao risco de cada um para arranjar o carro numa qualquer oficina, ainda que com décadas de experiência e mão-de-obra especializada. De qualquer forma, as condições atmosféricas adversas fazem negócio!

16 abril, 2012

Coisas que não mudam #182

My iPad's smart cover has finally arrived.

Got it at Amazon for less than half the price charged elsewhere, so I didn't mind the longer shipping time. But only now I understand it. The package was sent directly from China.

Curious detailed description of contents: "Toys."
Indeed!

15 abril, 2012

Caprichos #203


Cinco anos depois veio o segundo par de botas... e o chapéu!

12 abril, 2012

Ditto #201

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

--Unknown

11 abril, 2012

Palavras lidas #187

(...) Quantos filhos tinha ele não o diz claramente a história: a única coisa que ressalta é que destinara ao claustro todos os mais novos, de um e de outro sexo, a fim de deixar a sua fortuna inteira ao mais velho, o qual estava destinado a perpetuar a família, isto é, a procriar filhos para atormentar-se e atormentá-los da mesma maneira.
Estava a nossa desafortunada ainda no ventre materno e já o seu destino estava irrevogavelmente assente. Só restava decidir-se se seria monge ou freira, decisão para a qual era necessário a sua presença no mundo. Quando nasceu, querendo o príncipe seu pai dar-lhe um nome que fizesse imediatamente lembrar a ideia do claustro, que houvesse sido usado por uma santa de alta linhagem, chamou-lhe Gertrudes. Os primeiros brinquedos que lhe puseram na mão foram bonecas vestidas de freiras e, mais tarde, estampa sem traje de freiras, acompanhando sempre a oferta com a recomendação de ter muito cuidado com ela e com esta interrogação afirmativa:
- Muito linda, não é verdade?
Quando o príncipe, a princesa ou ainda o principezinho, único filho varão criado em casa, queriam elogiar a carinha bonita da menina, não achavam maneira mais própria de bem exprimir a sua ideia que esta: "Que bela madre abadessa!" (...)

p. 130

10 abril, 2012

Coisas que não mudam #181

Flowers are always pretty... precious when looked after since planted :-)

09 abril, 2012

Foi neste dia #169 (1918)


Há 94 anos mais de 7,000 portugueses morreram, ficaram feridos ou feitos prisioneiros em menos de 5 horas. A pesada derrota em La Lys marcou a participação de Portugal na Primeira Grande Guerra e o preço de ser aliado.

Numa sala perto de mim #192


Russian Ark (2002). Set in the Hermitage palace of Saint Petersburg, it goes through the city's history ever since its foundation in the early eighteenth century. The magnificent building, the art, the customs, the music, the historical context... it all makes you think about the sequence of events. All 96 minutes in a single camera shot!

08 abril, 2012

Caprichos #202

Mini watermelon, or personal melon as they call it in the supermarket, from Honduras. And seedless!

What if...

What if a caveman had never aged or died? How would he catalogue history? How would he have adapted to the progress of time? What marking events would he have witnessed? Which historical/religious figures would he have met? How much knowledge could he have accumulated? How would he have survived socially?

The idea is not new, but Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth gives some very clever answers. The play is at the Darkhorse theatre, in Nashville, for one more week.

07 abril, 2012

Retirado do contexto #133


Flores, sim. Porque alguém muito importante, e especial, faz anos hoje!

06 abril, 2012

Numa sala perto de mim # 191

Dangerous method


Carl Jung:
My love for you was the most important thing in my life. For better or worse, it made me understand who I am.
[looking at her pregnant belly]
Carl Jung: He should be mine.
Sabina Spielrein: Yes.
Carl Jung: Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable just to be able to go on living.

03 abril, 2012

Foi neste dia #168 (1954)

Crianças refugiadas chegando à America em Novembro de 1941
Refugee children arriving in America in November of 1941

Há cinquenta e oito anos Aristides Sousa Mendes morria na miséria no Hospital Franciscano em Lisboa. Foi a enterrar em túnica franciscana por falta de roupa própria apropriada. Morreu pobre e em desgraça com o governo Português por desobedecer a Salazar emitindo vistos e passaportes que salvaram milhares de pessoas dos campos de concentração Nazi. Mas nunca se resignou:

Se tantos Judeus sofreram por causa de um não-Judeu, também um Cristão pode sofrer por tantos Judeus
____________

Fifty-eight years ago, Aristides Sousa Mendes died in poverty at the Franciscan hospital in Lisbon. He was buried in a Franciscan tunic for lack of appropriate clothes of his own. He died poor and in disgrace with the Portuguese government after disobeying Salazar by issuing visas and passports that saved thousands of people from Nazi concentration camps. But he stood by his actions:

If so many Jews can suffer because of one non-Jew, surely one Christian can suffer for so many Jews